Union
by bdyffrent
Summary: A forbidden love brings down the wrath of the Volturi. Only an alliance between sworn enemies, brought together by the fateful bond between reluctant lovers, may allow both families to prevail... but are they ready for the future that could create?
1. If We Want Things to Stay the Same

Personal comments, update status, etc at bottom. Read away!

**Disclaimer:** this is a fan fiction story based on the Twilight series created by and wholly belonging to Stephenie Meyer. This is purely a writing exercise for the enjoyment of this fanfic's author, and said author will not use it for any commercial and/or profit-making purposes whatsoever.

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**Prologue – If We Want Things to Stay the Same…**

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A tense silence settled like the mist around our small travelling troupe.

To the eyes of any unfortunate onlooker, "small" would not have been such an accurate descriptor, perhaps. I suppose anything short of a platoon is usually a bit small when you think like a bodyguard. There weren't that many unfortunate onlookers in this cobblestoned part of the city, at this time of night, however.

Pity. I was a bit thirsty.

At the head of the convoy, Aro walked slower than usual. His comfortable mask of good cheer and optimism was well-known among our kind. He had perfected this mask for longer than anyone here had been alive, with the exception of the two figures immediately flanking him as we walked. Even when not discussing serious matters, Aro was usually capable of maintaining airy talk between the Three without any assistance or provocation. It was an integral part of the mask.

That mask was absent tonight, however. His pale features were schooled into excruciating neutrality. The meeting we had just left had given the Three a lot to think about.

"What kind of imbeciles does he take us for?" Caius, to the right of Aro, was the first to break the silence. His voice was that of a pickaxe digging into ice. It was not neutral. "It's revolting – and don't think for a minute that I believe he and his disgusting bottom-feeders aren't interested in spreading their practices, like some kind of cult."

"Calm, brother," Aro spoke in measured tones in response to Caius' rising voice, "we should consider carefully before jumping to conclusions."

"I much disagree, brother. There may be as of yet only few of our world who have adopted this unnatural feeding practice, but you especially are aware of how widespread its consideration has become," Caius' red irises bored into Aro's head.

Aro had no response to that. Caius' eyes turned calculating.

"It goes against nature. Worse still, it could prove… dangerous to our work."

At this, the corner of Aro's mouth quirked almost imperceptibly, but he said nothing.

"I don't much see what personal diet choices have in common with law enforcement," Marcus' tone wasn't as doubtful as it was bored. In contrast with Aro's precise neutrality, Marcus' face was a picture of disinterest.

"Oh, don't be obtuse. It's the way they are beginning to _look_ to him, Marcus. It's bad enough that he and his family are the largest coven outside our own," that fact was one that the Three had grown considerably conscious of, "and that they all feed… _that_ way. But their influence has spread to their Denali cousins, and it shows no sign of abating. Or isn't that so, Aro?" he directed the mostly rhetorical question to the only one among them capable of coming by this knowledge directly.

"It is true," Aro replied carefully, "that the thoughts of some of the coven leaders show that they have _considered_ this practice."

"And that more of them are seeking _his_ counsel on the issue. Personally." Caius pressed.

"Yes," Aro's precise neutrality was tinged with slight discomfort.

"Our authority is being undermined by a diet counselor?" a note of amusement colored Marcus' flat monotone.

"Dear brother," Caius replied with a trace irritation, "if you'll remember Aro's reading of some of the other coven leaders, some of the nomads even, you'll recall, I trust, that their discussions bridged topics well removed from mere dietary discipline. Their concerns about the proper place of our kind, our role in the larger scheme of things, especially with regards to the humans – concerns they took, not to the keepers of the Law for the last millenia, but to the leader of a family of upstarts. This truly does not concern you?"

"It seems the sort of topic that would arise naturally in view of the particular nature of their abstention," Marcus was, as always, unmoved.

"It seems," Caius followed quickly, "like the sort of topic that should be brought before _us_ – not least because it involves considerable risk of exposure to the humans," Caius' voice rose even further, along with his agitation.

"_We_ are the authority on such things. But that understanding seems to be slipping. Unless we ourselves take a hand now, brothers, this will slowly chip away at the proper order of things. If this peculiar experiment on his part is not controlled, it threatens the way of living we have worked so hard to defend for the past millennia._"_

"The Law concerns our visibility – it does not address managing the minutia of our kind's everyday life, thus_" Marcus' bored tone hinted at some discomfort, but Aro interrupted before he could continue.

"No Marcus, he does make a valid point," Aro spoke with more surety now, his eyes ablaze with the fire of creation of the mind behind them.

"This little 'cultural revolution' has the potential to undermine our authority, and though our power is unmatched, it is that authority that we depend on to maintain order among our kind, particularly in our absence," he spoke more quickly now, the fire of opportunity catching in his thoughts, "We can't be everywhere at once, and this development thus poses a grave risk to our current equilibrium – so an example must be made of him and his family," here Marcus looked quite ready to interrupt, but Aro continued soothingly, "…if not by the letter of the Law, than in its spirit."

Marcus looked like he would say something more, but held his tongue reluctantly. Aro halted the procession momentarily and turned to him. Aro's neutrality had quietly evaporated. He looked gravely at his brother, reached out and held his shoulders.

"Brother, for millennia, Volturi have championed the Law of our kind to avoid exposure. We have gained the trust or fear of our fellows in the pursuit of this noble duty. Never before has this honorable task been more necessary – the humans have at their disposal weapons so powerful that they are able to kill our kind, _if_ they possessed the knowledge of our existence. Now another has become a symbol capable of usurping the trust our family has worked so long to build, that same trust which holds our kind to the Law even in our absence, the trust that we depend on to keep our existence a secret. Defending that trust at all costs is no more than our duty to uphold the Law."

Self-satisfaction crossed Aro's face, but it passed quickly. His eyes glinted and he cast his most winning smile, and gently let go of the other's shoulders.

I chuckled silently. I didn't know how they did it, but their skill at manipulation, even of each other, never ceased to dazzle me, even after hundreds of years of servitude. Manufacturing justification was a compulsion of theirs, like feeding, and no one was better at it than they. I would know.

Sure, sure, the so-called 'vegetarians' likely posed some slightly elevated risk of exposure to the humans, technically speaking, but it was not the greatest threat they had ever encountered – not even close to the kind of threat they would routinely send me to neutralize. But the Cullens were the second-largest coven… and they were growing in influence. Allowing that fact to be known to the Volturi was a mistake. It was not their first, however, merely their latest. Their gravest mistake was simply having talented members – members who the Three had, on multiple occasions, propositioned to join their prestigious Guard. The Three always got what they wanted… eventually.

The 'trust' they had crafted over millennia, which Aro spoke so highly of now, was a candle compared to the roaring fire of the burning lust for power of the Volturi. They had dictated and interpreted the Law – and enforced it, I thought with a wide grin – unquestioned for thousands of years, the very same Three. So far as I could tell, we were no less susceptible to corruption than humans. Humans just didn't live long enough to grow as thirsty. Even if we didn't get to them first.

"Destroying them at a whim would seem… rather tactless," after a moment, Marcus' voice had returned to boredom. He was back on-board.

"That is most certainly so," replied Aro, still smiling brightly as he turned around and continued our procession. "Even we are not above the Law, after all," I was very, very careful not to allow a smirk to cross my face, "so we must prepare to… observe them closely."

"We'll need more information on their territory to do that," Caius was all too eager to jump back into the conversation. Aro nodded.

"Demetri."

My reply was ready – I couldn't help but grin.

"Yes Master?"

This was going to be fun.

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Hey guys! Special thanks to **Waldinando**, **Dawnlxix**, **Twilight_Children** and **nicfanz** for the comments/reviews, they mean a lot to me. And further thanks to everyone who's already "favorited" my story, I hope to keep it coming, quality included.

I'd love to see more reviews though guys! Even if it's not a 'review' strictly speaking - any ideas of where the story might go? Speculation? Gossip? Ideas? Constructive criticism? I'm open and I wanna hear your thoughts!

I felt like the short description of the story that I wrote promised more than I could set up in the first chapter (establishing characters = more compelling, and all that), so I went back a bit to make a prologue, and here it is. If you're reading this for the first time, I wrote "Falling Into Light" first and the semi-obligatory intro text is at the bottom there (but starting with the prologue is not a problem - have no fear!)

It might be a while till I can next update, what with holidays and all. Consider these first two chapters presents (hope you like 'em ;-) and I hope everybody has wonderful holidays!

hugs!

/bdyffrent


	2. Falling in Light

***UPDATE (12/25/2009): I made some changes - biggest change is replacing Embry's character with Paul, and sticking Embry with Leah and Quil. Also, Edward's and Bella's situation is touched on. Other inconsequential odds and ends. I'm a revision junkie, sorry for the confusion.**

Decided to post the semi-obligatory "1st story intro" at the bottom.

Warning: strong language (lemons in later chapters, but that's a ways away... maybe).

Special thanks for fantastic stories and encouragement from the fabulous fanfic author **xSheshemex** - go read and review her stuff, but be warned, it's addicting!

Enjoy!

bdyffrent.

**Disclaimer:** this is a fan fiction story based on the Twilight series created by and wholly belonging to Stephenie Meyer. This is purely a writing exercise for the enjoyment of this fanfic's author, and said author will not use it for any commercial and/or profit-making purposes whatsoever.

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Chapter One – Falling in Light

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My nose twitched.

I breathed in, short but deep breaths. Trees whooshed by, faster and faster, until I finally broke into a clearing. My eyes darted back and forth, seeking my target

_Shit, shit, shit, where is she?_

The Sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky. This was unbelievably weird on the northwest coast, where gloom and drizzle were an almost unbroken constant. "Sunny" days usually meant that the sky was an unusually bright shade of grey – and if you were lucky, you got to see a couple of rays break through a fleeting gap in the cloud cover. Not today.

The yellow light of the Sun was reflected in the aqua mirrors of the tidal pools. It was dispersed even more by the shiny rock surfaces surrounding the pools. The rocky clearing in the forest was unusually crowded, mostly by high school kids who had heard this would be a great place to come watch. Word travelled fast, apparently.

At the moment, though, I couldn't care less. Crowds just meant this would be harder than it should be, and with every passing second that I couldn't find her...

My fists balled in frustration, as I stalked rapidly towards the crowd, quickly closing the gap between it and me. My usually keen sense of smell was scattered, diluted by the smell of the sweat of too many people, and of portable barbeques hitting their stride. The salty tang of the not-too-distant Pacific, usually comforting to me, wasn't helping today.

The air was filled with the sound of popping aluminum soda cans, clinking glass bottles and the happy buzz of high school chat and gossip. Many looked to the sky and pointed at the faint outline of the Moon not quite yet approaching the Sun. It was the perfect day to come see the eclipse.

Pressure mounted around my temples, as though the approaching Moon were slowly tightening a vice around my head as it arced its way slowly forward, the shadows on its surface deepening the closer it got to the Sun. I continued to scan the crowd intently.

_Damn it, shouldn't have let her out of my sight_.

I caught a glimpse of long brown hair, and was moving before I even thought about it. The news from this morning poured slowly through my head again like a trickle of oil that worked its way to the pit of my stomach, where it sat like a rock.

Open season began today. Her hunter had arrived in the wee hours of the morning this morning. She didn't have a clue.

The people around the tidal pools weren't very closely packed, so I didn't have to shove all that much. I moved through the gaggles of people at a quick clip. I was moving so fast, I didn't see the person heading the same way as me, at the same speed. Evidently, neither did he, and we collided just before reaching the girl we were both apparently looking for.

"_Oof_ _dude watch where you're going, what the fu_" he was wearing a hoodie, so I did a double take before I realized who he was. His scent hit me like a sledgehammer. My eyes narrowed, nostrils flared, my temper spiking.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I spat.

The force of the collision and my sharp tone drew stares from those around us, including the girl. When she turned her head, we both realized that it wasn't her.

He shot me an icy stare before continuing to search the crowd. His steady voice came from the shadows of his hoodie, and he replied coolly:

"I'm here for the same reason you are, I'd imagine, only this is my business, whereas it's none of yours."

My fists balled tighter, but I reined my temper in, restraining my urge to mar his pretty face. Getting angry had interesting as well as somewhat obvious consequences for me, after all.

"Bella is my friend, Cullen, and you blood-sucking fuckers are the reason she's in danger right now," I would control my temper, but that didn't mean I was going to tread lightly. "Protecting her _is_ my business, especially when she has _friends_ like you," I spat out the word, which produced the result I was hoping for.

The other's infuriatingly cool façade faltered.

"Don't push it Black," Edward Cullen's words were more strained and clipped, his amber eyes framed by his marble features flashed from the shadows of his hoodie. I was furious to find that the combination of his scent and his hypnotizing glare was giving me an odd, unsteady feeling in my gut. I made sure nothing showed. _He just caught me off guard_, I reasoned. _Damn it_, _I don't need this distraction right now!_

"I'm not pushing shit. You need to back off, Cullen. We have a treaty for a reason. I'm here to keep her safe, and if you wanted to do the same, you'd leave."

He kept his hands carefully in the pockets of his hoodie, but I could tell they were starting to mirror my fists. Good.

In the back of my head, I had to give the guy some credit, albeit grudgingly. His kind never ventured out on a sunny day, much less in a crowded space. It was easy to push that thought aside, though, given how attractive I currently found the idea of my fist pulverizing his beautiful nose.

We glared fire at each other, but were interrupted by another arrival.

"What the fuck are you doing on our turf, leech?" One of mine, Paul, voice bristling with hostility. His temper was a problem even in the best of times. In front of us, well within our territory was a supremely unwelcome visitor – one expressly forbidden from trespassing, in fact. Not the best of times.

Not too far behind Paul, another one of mine, Seth, looked searchingly between the intruder and me. Seth was like a little brother to me – and I know he looked up to me.

My briefly forgotten urgency slammed back into place, and I looked up at the sky. The Moon had gained significant ground, and my mind shifted from the intruder in front of me to my charge, who was nowhere in my sight.

"He knows, Paul," I threw one last scathing look at the leech, before turning and continuing to scan the crowd with renewed intensity. A flash of puzzlement crossed his face just before I broke eye contact. He was probably curious that I was, in a way, defending his presence. It seemed odd to me as well.

"I'm done wasting time on you right now," I said without turning, by way of explanation. I didn't want him to think he was off the hook, but we both knew we had bigger things to worry about just at that very moment, and I figured I should make that clear to Paul and Seth as well.

Not surprisingly, Paul wasn't so quick to let it drop. I moved away, as I spotted one of Bella's friends, Mike. Secretly, I was tickled at the idea that I could continue searching for Bella while the other was delayed. _Let the fucker deal with that_.

"How did you know your leech friend was back in town, out to spill your ex-girlfriend's blood?" I heard Paul question him sharply. This frustrated him, and despite the urgency of the situation, a corner of my mouth threatened to turn up in a grin as I put more distance between us.

"She's no friend of me or mine, dog" I heard him bite back scathingly. I did grin at that. _Temper, temper, Edward_.

"His sister – the far-seer. She must have… seen," Seth chimed in neutrally, referring to Edward Cullen's future-seeing sister, Alice.

"She had a vision early today, but she miscalculated," Edward bit off, moving away, "we thought we'd have more time."

Roughly translated, I figured the Cullens had had a lively discussion following the far-seer's vision: Knowing that Bella would get stalked while she was within my people's reservation, in Quileute territory, the Cullen family would have tried to convince Edward not to enter the reservation, breaking the age-old treaty they held with my tribe - without too much success, it seemed. Much as it killed me to admit it, he cared as much about Bella as I did. I know that I wouldn't have let the treaty stand in the way of protecting her. Damn him for being so fucking noble.

I clapped my hand on Mike's shoulder as I reached him, and he spun around at the unexpected contact.

"Woah_ hey Jake, what's going on man?" His blue eyes were wide, blonde hair ruffling in the breeze. I was pretty sure his affable charm was quite forced, although he hid it well. It was no secret to him that Bella and I were very close, and I couldn't blame him for not liking it. Well, tough cookies for him.

"Mike, where's Bella?" I could have been a little less gruff, but I really didn't have time for a preamble.

"Uh… she went to take a wiz out by the trees…" he was puzzled at my urgency, but my heart froze for a second.

In the forest.

In the shadows.

Alone.

If the huntress was around – now would be her moment.

"She should be coming back any sec, at least if she wants to catch the eclipse," he glanced up at the Moon, just an inch from the Sun. "Why?" he turned back to me, a trace of worry and suspicion on his face.

I recovered, reality slamming into me.

"Where?" I almost snapped, my eyes willing him to answer quickly.

"O-over there," he pointed, just as I feared, at the forest, a little ways away from the crowds.

I spun in that direction and sprinted, not caring about my inhuman speed. Odds were I'd probably have to hide the rest of my more obvious inhumanity pretty soon anyway.

"Wait_ why? What's going on?!" He called after me. Thankfully, his voice was generally absorbed by the crowd's buzzing, which grew louder as the Moon made its final approach, already beginning to impinge upon the Sun's corona. Time's up.

* * *

(Bella)

_Damn it, first the damn zipper, and now this_. I chuckled silently at my predicament, as I climbed back upright after tripping over my second felled branch. If I had known that it would take me this long to trip back though the underbrush to the clearing, I would have swallowed my pride and just peed closer to the crowd. _There should be a law against being this clumsy_.

I could see the clearing from where I stood, and I started stepping carefully towards it, wary of falling again, when I heard voice laced with venom directly behind me.

"You pitiful creature. It amazes me you made it this far already."

I froze, and turned around slowly.

In non-descript hiking gear, staring at me with red eyes and a nasty grin, was Victoria. Her dazzling, curly red locks and beautiful face were completely incongruous with her outfit. The last time I had seen her, she had helped her boyfriend try to kill me. He was dead now. She was pissed. At me. Here. Now.

Not good.

I opened my mouth to scream. I wasn't that scared – I didn't have enough time to be – but it's the only productive thing I could think of. It's not like I could outrun her, even at top speed with running shoes on completely even pavement.

But suddenly, Victoria was in front of me, having moved a dozen feet in less than a split second. One marble hand was around my neck, and I found myself hoisted up by my throat, unable to scream or breathe.

"Bella!"

I recognized that voice, but I was too preoccupied at the moment trying to get a grip on the solid, ice-cold arm holding me off the ground to greet Jacob in return. Truth be told, things were already starting to get a little fuzzy – from the pain or lack of oxygen, I wasn't sure.

"Fuck," her disgustingly glamorous grin twisted into a grimace, "and here I was hoping we could spend some quality time together, just the two of us," Victoria spat. She sent Jacob a withering glance before turning gingerly, still holding me off the ground, and leaping into the forest. I would have been more worried about crashing into a tree or just throwing up from the dizzying blur that the trees around me became, but my vision was already starting to fade to black. All I could think was: _thank God I already peed_.

* * *

(Edward)

I was trying my best to focus on finding Bella, but the pleasurable image of decapitating Jacob Black refused to leave my mind.

_Goddamn dog_.

At this point, I didn't know if I was referencing Jacob or his infernal pack mate, Paul. I hadn't failed to notice Jacob's perverse enjoyment of my delay at his pack mate's hands. I didn't really want to think of the consequences of breaking the treaty right now anyway, or why Jacob hadn't taken that more seriously, which struck me as odd.

"… _you blood-sucking fuckers are the reason she's in danger right now… Protecting her is my business, especially when she has_ friends_ like you._"

An icy blue fire burned deep inside me. Oh, he knew just how to get to me, that much was sure. I didn't know what was more infuriating – the fact that he knew how to press my failure to protect Bella like broken glass into my face, or the fact that I couldn't tear my eyes away from his full lips during the entire tirade. The way they shaped themselves around every syllable was… distracting.

Odd thoughts – no time.

Bella.

I was having no luck, stretching my augmented senses to the extreme, but I still couldn't find her. Leave it to her to be untraceable in her time of greatest danger, one of the only weekends that I had let her out of my sight after coming back to ask forgiveness. I was seriously contemplating asking a friend to hack her cell phone to send updates of her location to my phone. I heard you could do that nowadays.

The clearing was loud, not only with buzzing conversation, but with buzzing thought – nothing about Bella though.

Then suddenly a flash of urgency – almost panic – cut through the bubbling thoughts, and I recognized Jacob. Mike was speaking to him, he just said…

Shit.

I whirled around and started running. My version of running. Desperation gripped me.

_I can't lose you again._

I hit the tree line with inhuman speed, just as the Moon met the Sun. The sky began to darken.

* * *

(Jacob)

No sooner had Victoria seemingly disappeared into the forest with fantastic speed in a whoosh of air, than a similar sudden sharp breeze whizzed by not inches from my left side, leaving me woozy. I knew it was that damned bloodsucker who had broken the treaty – he must have picked up my direction from my thoughts and seen. _Damn it, stay the _fuck_ out of my head_, I thought, hoping he could hear me. It took me a moment to collect myself before I pounced after them, my clothes shredding as I phased into wolf form. A shadow drifted slowly across the landscape, and the sky plunged steadily into darkness.

I was disgusted that the leech had touched my mind, but was alarmed that his scent was having a conflicting effect on my body. Even as I galloped through the forest, the uneasy feeling in my bowels refused to loosen its grip, and parts of my pelt threatened to stand on end. _Damn it, focus – unless you want to crash into a tree and guarantee that Bella never breathes again._

Refocusing on Bella, my closest friend with whom I'd once been in love, helped push the awkward thought pattern into the back of my mind – which was good because the link I shared with my pack was just starting to set in after the phase. Phasing connected all of us, even at considerable distances. We could see each other's thoughts as a mind dump whenever they phased into wolf form – the link was broken when we phased back. That meant, however, that when we were in wolf form, all our conscious thoughts were laid bare for all our pack mates to see. This made us excellent pack hunters, but conversely made it very difficult, although not impossible, to hide awkward or inopportune lines of thinking. Whatever this was, it definitely qualified as such – I would bring it up if it became a problem that the others might inherit, but no need otherwise. I didn't want them questioning me about my being potentially faint around one of our enemies.

**_There you are – what took you?_**

The irritating voice of Leah Clearwater, another pack mate and Seth's older sister, broke into my silence as the link resolved itself completely. When you first phase, you can instantly feel the other's emotions, but it takes a second or two before you can start hearing thought, talking and seeing through each other's eyes. I ignored her question, feeling the instinct to lead flowing back into me.

**_Talk to me. Where is she? Did you catch her?_** My thoughts were sharp – I could feel the flow of my pack mate's emotions and thoughts around me, as I adjusted to the tempo of the situation.

**_We almost had her, but she's too damn fast. We couldn't take her down without hurting Bella._** That would be Quil. His thoughts were accompanied by a silent wave of aggravated agreement from Embry, who, along with Quil, was among my closest friends. Both were out patrolling with Leah. Quil and Embry were the first to pick up Victoria's scent earlier this morning, and had been part of the hunting party playing hide-and-seek with the huntress since dawn. There's no way they wouldn't be tired by now, but even that notwithstanding, I could understand their resonating frustration. Our enemies were supernaturally fast – even faster than us, although not by much. Victoria was an experienced tracker, however, and her specialty was evasion and getaways. Something she was exploiting heavily right now. The eclipse provided the perfect cover.

I growled lowly, and pushed myself to run faster.

The trees blended into a brown and green haze around me as I focused on my target, with growing frustration. Even carrying Bella, whose weight was not all that considerable in the supernatural scheme of things, Victoria was faster than us, being what she was.

All around me, I could feel the support and love of my pack mates, and we all felt each other's anxiousness. Leah, Quil and Embry were closer than I, but falling behind, and Seth and Paul were right behind me, having seen me take off into the woods and assumed the rest. As long as we didn't lose her scent, Bella had a chance.

**_She's arcing around… is she…?_**

**_Heading for the cliffs._** I finished Leah's thought, going with my gut instinct.

We wouldn't be able to track Victoria or Bella once they hit the water – she must have realized that. There was also an element of poetry to it. Victoria's mate, James, had been cut up, the remains of his body consumed in a fire – the only known way of actually killing one of them – so she would take Bella and drown her in icy water. My heart froze at thinking about what she might do before drowning her. It was sick, but effective, much like Victoria herself.

Based on Leah's last sighting and Victoria's direction, I figured she was heading close to where my pack brothers would sometimes go cliff jumping. She didn't know the lay of the land, so she was probably guessing by the smell of the ocean. That was our advantage.

**_She's heading for the cliffs – we can catch her in the water if we cut across the coastal highway. Leah, Quil, Embry: keep chasing her, or she'll know something's up and change paths. Embry, Seth, you're with me._**

I changed course even before I was finished instructing the others – which itself took less than a fraction of the time it would have taken to speak the same orders. The link was handy that way.

I pushed myself even harder now, goal in mind. We could do this, we could save her.

I gained a little distance on Paul and Seth and burst through the tree line, nearly t-boning an eighteen-wheeler on the highway in the temporary twilight. I skidded hard to avoid it, and lost my balance for a moment, slipping to the edge of the road with the momentum of my run. I fell over the edge.

I rolled only a few times, desperately flaying for a paw-hold on the steep incline, finding one easily, and clinging to it for dear life. I let out a strangled growl, as the force nearly ripped my front leg from its socket. If I rolled down the cliff, I'd hit the bay along the breakers and likely break my back on the rocks. Wolf or no, I didn't want to take my chances that way. I heard and smelt the tangy saltiness of the crashing waves of the north Pacific far below me, although my keen eyesight could still distinguish the rocks, even in the near pitch-darkness. The sun had already started to peak from behind the moon, though. Were it not for the dire situation, I would have been able to see the diamond ring forming in the sky around the outline of the Moon.

I directed my attention to the cliffs roughly adjacent to where I desperately held my perch, just as a black blotch and a blur of burgundy burst from the dark tree line directly ahead of the receding shadow, plunging downward into the icy waters. There was no time to think, I braced myself against the cliff, about to jump off_

At precisely that moment, Edward emerged from the tree line, and for a split second, my world froze, my breath caught in my throat.

The strong breeze had blown his scent in my direction, and it filled my nostrils – my chest expanded of its own accord, wanting more. There was no sound – I heard nothing, not the pounding of the waves far below me, nor the wind pounding into me – just the pounding of my heart as it grew stronger in my ears. He had apparently taken the hoodie off as he jumped, and now seemed suspended at the top of his perfect arc after jumping from the cliff, his body taught, muscles flexing under his thin white t-shirt. The emerging sunlight hit his perfectly chiseled face and his torso, which both gleamed like a mirror, even through his shirt, lighting up everything in my sight and blinding me to everything but him. His wild, rusty brown hair was lit up like a coppery flame, burning into the back of my skull. My pupils dilated completely, as if to better drink his beauty, and my eyes were black for a moment as I felt a fever rise in me. His eyes were gleaming golden gemstones set into his shimmering, carved alabaster countenance, steady and focused. Despite the distance, it was as if he were just feet away from me, and despite myself, I itched to reach out and run my fingertips down his cheek, to feel the sinews of his neck…

I was shaking so badly that I nearly fell from my perch, which brought me back to reality for the fourth time today. My head whipped around and I steadied my grip. When I looked back, all I saw was the splash in the water completing his dive.

**_Jacob! Jacob, what's going on? Can you hear me?!_**

Leah's voice screamed in my head, the emotions of the others mirroring her concern.

I didn't want to think about what had just happened. My thoughts snapped back to our very immediate problems.

**_Fine! Here. No time to explain. She's got Bella in the water – we dive NOW._**

And without further thought I pushed off from the incline and dived hundreds of feet into the water, in my best guess as to Victoria's last direction. I was vaguely conscious of Leah, Quil and Embry diving and Paul and Seth jumping right behind me, but my thoughts were once again focused on saving Bella. Mostly. _Goddamn it Jacob, what the _hell_ is going on with you? _Keep_ it together._

Those were my last thoughts before I hit the icy water.

_Let's see how good bloodsuckers can swim._

_

* * *

_

(Edward)

I ripped the hoodie off just as I dived into the water right behind Victoria, figuring I could swim faster without it. My eyes and mind focused completely on the gleaming trace of red curls in the water ahead of me. I was desperate. _Have to get her._ Nothing else was important.

I swam like a demented eel from Hell.

I was finally gaining on her – the drag of Bella's limp form and Victoria's inexperience with swimming finally shifting the advantage in my favor. It was a cold comfort, given that I knew that, unlike myself, Bella needed to breathe – something which she had not been physically able to do for the past several minutes.

I swam faster.

After what seemed like an eternity, that was probably only a few seconds, my hand latched on to one of Victoria's ankles. I immediately pulled and twisted sharply until I heard a satisfying "crack," muffled by the water. She turned on me, still not letting go of Bella, but before I could do any further damage, a wolf descended upon her from above and latched onto the hand still holding Bella's throat. Victoria leaked bubbles as she screamed in outrage in the water, about to bite the offending wolf, when another descended and latched on to her neck from behind and she started thrashing like mad. Four more wolves closed in. It didn't look pretty.

Her hand let go of Bella, who floated too slowly to the surface. Clear above everything around me I heard the alpha wolf's thoughts – directed at me no less.

**_Get Bella – get her safe. We got this._**

I didn't question. In my desperation, I didn't have time to register the shock of the exchange. I swam to Bella with all the power I could muster, grabbed her, and dragged her to the surface. She still wasn't breathing.

I don't remember the following very well. I was panicking, shaking, but somehow, I ended up on the nearest beach, pumping seawater out of Bella's lungs. She eventually responded and promptly wretched the rest of the seawater from her lungs, but her body was weak, bruised and spasming – her eyes were open, but she was not conscious.

Just as I was about to lift her up to take her to my car, I noticed the wolves were on the beach – two of them ministering to the limp forms of the other three, as they all slowly phased back to human, healing the worst of their wounds. _Five, not six. Where_?_

"Bella!"

I felt an overwhelming spike of concern and turned slowly to the source of the shout, Bella still in my arms.

I witnessed a now fully human, fully naked Jacob step from the foam of the breaking ocean waves, and my jaw slackened. The sun was now fully uncovered, the eclipse over. The glistening sunlight of the unusually cloudless day illuminated the tall, chiseled, soaking wet body of the golden-brown-skinned man stepping from the water. The scattered light from the bright sand played across his powerful torso, and I felt momentarily disoriented.

_What… is this?_

He seemed to walk over in slow motion, but I knew this couldn't have been the case – his mind was focused entirely on Bella and getting her safe. But the moments between his emerging from the foam and reaching me were tortuously stretched in my mind, biting into me, teasing me. My lips parted, and a thirst I didn't understand left my throat parched. My lungs filled themselves involuntarily with his invigorating scent, and I shuddered. In those moments, against my will, my eyes roamed from his close-cut shiny black hair, to his sharp brown eyes full of spirit, his full, rose-tinted dark lips, to the delicate pleat of his chin. I tried desperately not to imagine my lips hungrily following this path. I tried to stop, but my eyes refused to respond, following a drop of water down his muscled neck, and still further down his unbelievably chiseled body, his chest, his stomach, shimmering in a wet sunlit sheen. I watched as little droplets of water made their way down, tracing the cut V below his stomach, falling slowly to a steadily denser patch of darker hair below, my hands itching to follow them to forbidden places…

"How is she?!"

I tore my eyes away from their dangerous path as something tried to rise within me. For an imperceptible moment, my throat wouldn't work, but then a feeling of elation passed over me. I felt almost… thankful for his interruption, as I took back control. My face became a mask just as quickly as it had lost composure._ What is happening?_

* * *

(Jacob)

"Not good," he replied.

"I have to get her to my house," he responded quickly. I was startled out of my anxiousness when his eyes caught mine – his gleaming, topaz eyes. There was a moment of electricity between us. We both looked away quickly, as though we'd been shocked.

_Think of Bella, damn it. She needs your help _now_, stay with it_, I lashed at myself.

"_my father will be able to treat her there, and there will be fewer questions," he finished his thought with a strained tone, his eyes studying her limp form very carefully.

"She's finally safe, and you want to take her _away_ to your leech father? Why the fuck should we trust you?!" Paul interrupted. He was beside himself, having just witnessed three of his pack mates almost killed by one of them. I understood his mistrust almost too well, but it wasn't going to help Bella – not now, at any rate.

"Paul, drop it. She needs medical care, ASAP."

Paul looked at me incredulously, but said nothing. After a moment of silence, Edward responded very quietly:

"Thank you," he breathed. The beautiful sound was like fingers running lightly up my back, but I balled my hands into fists and studiously ignored it.

"Where's your car?" I didn't have time for niceties – he understood immediately that we meant to come with him, just as Paul understood that he was to come along. I didn't expect either to be comfortable with the idea, but that's why I had said it in the tone I'd said it. Because that's how it was going to happen.

"What about Seth, Quil and Embry?" Paul wasn't protesting, merely asking.

"I've got them covered, they're not so bad now – _go!_" was Leah's gruff reply from further down the beach.

"Follow me," Edward said simply. The words seem to linger too long in my head, swirling between my ears like golden dust.

What the _hell?_

* * *

*

* * *

Well! There you have Chapter 1.

I'm writing this story mostly for my own enjoyment - I wish I had more time to update, but I've got two jobs and I'm (at the time of this writing) in my 4th undergrad year of college, so updating.... might be slow. Fair warning =)

This story is rated the way it is for a reason - it's pretty adult-y. There will be some "lemons" (is that what they're calling it these days?) later on, but mostly there's a lot of bad language. Just the way I write, I dunno what that says about me ;-)

I wrote this story because as much as I indulge in high school drama fiction (and read it obsessively - shh don't tell anyone), I yearned for a stronger central plot line that drives the action which underpins the romance, without sacrificing any character complexities or development.

I'm pretty new to the Twilight 'verse, so I'll post any clarifications that seem necessary based on reviews and comments at the beginning of the next chapter. Luckily I'm on winter break right now, which means I can start on that right away =)

I will be taking some of the elements from the T-verse and will be twisting others, sometimes going so far as to invent some alternate histories - if I do it correctly (clearly enough), that means you shouldn't need any clarification beyond what I write - I think complex plots are cool, but plots are not cool if they're too complicated to be understandable, so definitely let me know if I lost you somewhere, cause I'm a total revision-junky for the sake of clarity, togetherness and consistency.

Thanks for reading, and of course, I'd appreciate any feedback you have! (i.e. feel free to comment and review - green button below).

I'm excited to embark on this adventure with you, and I hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,

bdyffrent.


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